


Wasted Potential (& Ejector Seats)

by that1crazaychik



Category: Green Hornet (2011), Green Hornet - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Brothers, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23818657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that1crazaychik/pseuds/that1crazaychik
Summary: An Introspective of both Kato and Reid during the final fight in the Daily Sentinel, plus a missing scene while floating through the air on the ejector seats. Kato-centric cause the poor man deserves it.
Relationships: Kato & Britt Reid
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Part 1: Wasted Potential**

_An Introspective of both Kato and Reid during the final fight in the Daily Sentinel._

* * *

Everything was going fine… considering. Britt was uploading the recording which was a pretty simple task. There wasn't much he could do to mess that up. All Kato had to do was keep him alive and beat up the bad guys, two things he was pretty good at. Once the lights had been shot Kato knew the other guys didn't have a chance. They had horrible aim even when they could see. So, Kato slowly took them out one by one. He had one of the gunmen in a deadly headlock when he heard the familiar _click_ of a gun being cocked. Kato immediately looked up.

Somehow, he'd forgotten about the deadliest of the gunmen.

Chudnofsky stood alone in the middle of the room. Kato was frozen.

How could he have forgotten about the boss?

He knew he was in dead the minute he heard the shot go off. But when he didn't feel a blast of pain immediately, he was shocked and slightly relieved. Only for a split second. An explosion of noise came from the ceiling above him and he looked up just in time to watch a giant wooden desk hurtle towards him. Kato tried to jump out of the way of the flying furniture, but he was too slow. A rare occurrence. As a result, his right leg and arm were crushed under the desk. A cry of pain split through the smoky air.

How could he be so stupid?

Kato pushed desperately at the desk, but it would not budge. His efforts were cut short as a shiny red boot planted itself on his bicep and roughly pushed him to the floor. Kato struggled against it, but it was no use. He was trapped. He felt his mask being stripped away and he was soon staring into the barrel of a gun... correction barrels.

_Fuck._

* * *

No. Data. Recorded.

Three words that made Britt's stomach drop.

How could he be so stupid?

He now had a small army of pissed of gangsters out to kill him and a corrupt District Attorney who knew his secret identity and Britt had absolutely no leverage. Kato had literally pulled out all of the stops to get them here and Britt had nothing. I mean the man had pulled out nunchucks, driven through a wall, cut a car in half in an elevator, and completely destroyed an extremely boring office space driving half a car! All of that badassery for nothing.

_Wait a minute... where is Kato?_

Britt's gaze shot across the room and his heart dropped along with his stomach. A few yards away, in a heap of destroyed office furniture, Kato was pinned to the floor while the bad guy with the unpronounceable name and the stupid mask hovered threateningly over him.

_Fuck._

So, not only had Britt started a war with no leverage, but he'd also led his sidekick to his death. Great job, Reid.

Britt's mind raced as he tried to come up with a plan to save his partner. He could not let Kato die because of his fuck up. He _would_ not.

A bullet ricocheted off the desk about a foot away from Britt's hand and he was ripped from his thoughts. Quickly, he ducked for cover.

"Alright, Reid!" He heard Scanlon yell.

 _Who the hell gave this idiot a gun?_ Britt needed to get rid of him. Fast.

"Hand over the... thing!" Scanlon continued, pathetically.

 _Wait… He doesn't know_ , Britt thought, looking up at the sushi drive still plugged into the computer. His heart picked up slightly. _Scanlon doesn't know its empty_.

As long as the crooked DA thought there was some incriminating evidence on that hunk of sushi the Green Hornet had the upper hand. Britt quickly jumped up and grabbed the sushi off the desk without even ejecting it from the computer, which was pretty badass.

"You want it?" He shouted, "Go get it!"

He threw the USB as hard as he could into the debris of the destroyed office. Scanlon shot a stormtrooper aimed shot in Britt's general direction before taking the bait.

"Where is it?" He cried, digging through the crumbled paper and chunks of the office wall.

With Scanlon busy, Britt turned his attention back to Kato. He ran to the Black Beauty, using her as cover, and inched forward until he could see his partner again. The situation had gotten much, much worse.

Kato was still pinned to the floor, but now his mask was off, and the bad guy's double-barrelled pistol was about two inches from his face.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

* * *

"I am Bloodnofsky. I killed a thousand before and I will kill a thousand more."

The gun was so close Kato swore he could smell it smoking and feel the heat radiating off its barrels. All of Kato's senses were flashing red and screaming at him: Weapon! Weapon! Danger! Danger! But he couldn't move. He had no gadgets to get him out of this. No missiles to launch, No nunchucks to pull out, not even a free hand to throw a punch. For the first time in a very long time, Kato was completely and utterly helpless.

And it absolutely _terrified_ him.

"Now, tremble before your death..."

Death. He was dead. Kato was going to die. And he was _not_ ready for it. Sure, the thought had occurred to him many times throughout the Green Hornet's exploits that he could easily meet his demise at any time. What they were doing was extremely dangerous. Yet somehow, with the mask on, sitting behind the wheel of the Black Beauty, Kato had felt pretty much invincible. Until now.

He had always heard that before you died your life was supposed to flash before your eyes. Unfortunately, the only thing flashing through Kato's mind was his former boss's voice.

"You are _wasting_ your potential, son" he heard James Reid scold him.

_Seriously... right now?_

"You can do so much better than this, Kato." The man said, gesturing disgustedly at the destroyed bumper of his Rolls Royce. "This is pathetic! Why the hell did I even hire you, hunh?"

Kato just stood there, head down, furiously twirling a wrench in his hands as his boss continued to yell at him.

"I expect more from you, son." He scolded, "much more than this."

 _I am not your son_ ; _you are not my father_ , Kato remembered thinking, as he stayed up all that night, fuming and spitefully crafting a nearly indestructible bumper for that damn car.

Kato had no father. He hadn't had one for a long time. So, who the hell did James Reid think he was calling Kato "son" and telling him he was wasting his potential?

But then James Reid died.

And somehow Kato felt like he had lost another father. He was alone, without a family... again.

The words echoed through his thoughts again.

"You are wasting your potential".

Only this time it was, ironically, the voice of Britt Reid, the king of wasted potential.

Britt. His boss. His partner. His Xiong-di. His brother.

If Kato died here Britt would be alone and vulnerable, much like Kato was all those years growing up in Shang-hi. It would only be a matter of time before Chudnofsky, sorry Bloodnofsky, would pin him down and shoot him in the face too. Kato could not let that happen. He _would_ not let that happen.

He quickly snapped back to reality.

_Gun. Bad guy. Impending death. Right._

Kato struggled harder against the crime boss. It was still no use. He had to get free or else both he and Britt were dead.

Chudnofsky was sure taking his time, and Kato was using every second to simultaneously panic and plot his escape.

"Be it my mask or be it your blood, red will be the last colour you'll ever see."

The only thing Kato could see was down the two barrels of the gun being shoved in his face. His heart pounded so hard in his chest, it felt it like was going to explode.

 _Calm down Kato_ , he chastised himself, trying to push away the white-hot fear burning in his chest, _Calm down_. _You need to think. For Britt's sake._

If he could just get his left leg free, maybe he could kick this desk off...

* * *

Britt was in full panic mode. He was about to watch his sidekick, no his partner, get his brain blasted out right in front of him. He kept waiting for Kato to get up. To pull some crazy kung-fu move and kick the Chubwhatsky guy in the face or the balls or something. But he just lay there with a gun to his head, and Britt finally realized it was up to him to do the ass-kicking now. For Kato's sake.

He remembered what Kato had said, that night they'd beat up those muggers.

_"When my heart begins to beat, it's like time slows down."_

_God wouldn't that be handy right now._ Britt thought. _But really... how hard could it be?_

So, he closed his eyes and listened for the beat of his heart. It wasn't hard to find, as it was pretty much pounding a hole out of his chest. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath and channeled his inner Kato.

Throwing his eyes open, Britt flew to his feet and was sprinting across the room. Despite the energy surging through his body, Britt felt as if everything around him was moving in slow motion. He crashed through a door, knocking the gun right out of a man's hands. Flashes of gunfire and green flew across his vision, but he just kept moving. Sometimes without really noticing it. He was punching and kicking and using random debris as weapons. After taking out the fourth guy Britt was feeling pretty fucking invincible and simultaneously wondering why he was giving Kato all the credit.

_This shit was easy!_

He was quickly humbled about a split second later, tripping and falling epically on his face. His fall caused a loud enough _thump!_ to get both Chumbucket's and Kato's attention.

_Now what._

* * *

Kato never thought he would ever say this, but god was he thankful for Britt's uselessness. If the man hadn't come howling from across the room wielding what looked like half a wheelie chair Kato would definitely be dead. Britt had given him the upper hand he had desperately needed.

With Bloodnofsky distracted Kato freed his leg from underneath the man and kicked him hard in the chest. While he was busy falling to the ground, Kato delivered the same powerful kick to the desk, effectively freeing his other leg and arm. He jumped swiftly to his feet and fired his foot back, directly into Bloodnofsky's chest, catapulting him backward.

Luckily, Britt had been enough of a dumbass to distract the crime lord by clumsily falling, instead of actually attacking an armed man with office furniture and getting shot.

_Unless the only reason he fell was because he got shot…_

Kato hastily searched the debris for his friend.

"Britt!" he called, "Britt!"

He'd almost missed the wooden table leg flying at his face. The crime lord had torn the leg off the desk and swung it at Kato who immediately put his arms up defensively. The wood cracked and splintered against his forearms. Instinctively, Kato snatched the two pieces of wood from midair and shot them towards Bloodnofsky, with the same velocity as the bullet flying towards him.

Let's just say was the last colour he ever saw was black.

Kato made his way over to his friend and pulled Britt to his feet, examining the other man for any injuries, but saw a flutter of movement over Britt's shoulder. DA Scanlon, making a run for it in possession of both the flash drive and The Green Hornet's true identity.

"Shit!"

* * *

Britt followed Kato's gaze and saw the cowardly Scanlon being a coward and running away… the coward. Did Britt ever mention Scanlon was a coward?

He quickly raised the double-barrelled pistol he'd just used to shoot Chubnofsky in the face with and pointed it directly at Scanlon. God, it was nice to have a real weapon. Maybe Kato would make him one of these…

_Not the time Britt!_

"End of the road, Scanlon." He shouted, gathering absolutely no pleasure in Scanlon raising his hands in surrender.

"Okay, Okay…" the DA said shakily, "let's just calm down." Kato suddenly appeared at Britt's side, mask on.

"Hand over the sushi!" He said with just a little too much confidence.

"Uh, yea… hand it over!" Britt would have to teach him how to craft a one-liner later, right now they needed to focus on Scanlon.

"We can talk about this." the Scanlon tried, obviously not understanding that Britt had a double-barrelled pistol and the coward had just admitted to murdering his father like twenty minutes ago.

Sadly, before Britt could get any form of revenge, skinny red lasers penetrated the smoky air. Before he knew it, he was following Kato through a hail of gunfire while clutching his bleeding shoulder. He was swiftly shoved in the passenger seat of the trusty Black Beauty and they were soon plowing through destroyed cubicles like nothing.

"Kato, I screwed up!" Britt yelled over the gunfire. "Scanlon's going to get away scot-free!"

Kato looked at him for a split second and Britt could have sworn there was a glimmer in his eye.

"No, he's not!" he shouted back. And suddenly they took a hard turn to the right, plowing directly into District Attorney Frank Scanlon, a glass wall, a very expensive desk, and the exterior wall of the Daily Sentinel.

Between the shattering glass, the roaring wind, Scanlon's screams, and… well, his own screams Britt had no idea what was happening. It also didn't help that he'd squeezed his eyes shut as soon as they'd crashed through the wall. But eventually, the wind died down and Scanlon's screaming got quieter and Britt felt like he was floating.

_Was this what death felt like…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2: Ejector Seats**

_A missing scene while floating through the air on the ejector seats. Kato-centric because the poor man deserves it._

* * *

Nope. It wasn't.

"Holy shit! Ejector Seats!" Britt exclaimed after he finally stopped freaking the fuck out. "You actually built them."

He looked over at his genius, completely awestruck.

"It was a good idea," Kato said casually, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back.

"Wow." Britt thought out loud as he stared down at the tiny lights of the city below him. The seat shifted slightly in the air and Britt's heart hitched. "This is really scary."

It didn't take long for him to relax into his seat, however. With the soft wind blowing and the sound of siren's harmonizing with Kato's classical music, it was almost comforting.

But then, of course, there was the bullet lodged in his shoulder. And the image of his best friend about to die lodged in his brain. That had happened nearly minutes ago, yet there Kato was smiling as he looked up at the parachutes on the ejector seats _he'd_ built.

It was official, Britt Reid did not deserve this man.

For everything Kato went through in his life, to be overlooked and completely underappreciated by a spoiled brat like Britt Reid was completely unacceptable. Britt knew that now. He was finally able to admit that. The only reason he was even alive right now was because of the man next to him. And yet when Kato needed him the most, he had failed to save him. In fact, Kato had ended up saving him _and_ avenging his father. I mean, to be fair the ejector seats were Britt's idea, but whatever.

"Look," Britt finally broke the silence, "I didn't get the chance to apologize- "

"Don't." Kato shot back; his arms were folded across his chest as he stared out at the city below them. "You really don't have to" he added, looking at Britt with a little smirk. Britt was slightly taken aback. It wasn't often that he admitted he was wrong, so he was surprised when Kato didn't even want to hear him say it.

"I know I don't have to" Britt continued, staggeringly, "But I want to- "

"But, I don't want you to. "Kato countered again.

"Why not?"

"Cause you don't have to."

"But I want to!"

"Yea but I already- "

"Just let me- "

"No- "

"Would you shut up and let me apologize?" Britt finally shouted, before immediately adding. "Pretend I said that nicer."

But Kato didn't seem taken aback. He sat back in his seat again and motioned for Britt to continue.

"I need to apologize for all the shit I made you put up with. I didn't appreciate you enough and I'm sorry." Britt said. Kato just nodded, still staring out at the city.

"Look…" Britt continued softly, "I'm not the real hero here, I know that."

That got Kato's attention. His head snapped to look at Britt but before he could protest Britt continued, "You've saved my life more times then I can count. I mean, you are the real Green Hornet."

"But you're the one who started it all" Kato said, "Without you, there would be no Green Hornet. Plus, you came up with the name!"

Britt tilted his head to the side.

"Mmm… Pretty sure that was you."

"You had the idea for the car." Kato tried.

"Nope, that was definitely you. Look," Britt cut Kato off before he could make him feel any worse. "I think you're missing the point here. Which is…"

Britt turned to look Kato in the eyes. "I really, truly am sorry."

Kato stared at him, as if in shock. After a few seconds, he blinked hard and looked down, almost flustered. After a few seconds, he looked back at Britt and said:

"Apology accepted."

* * *

They sat in silence for a few minutes as they slowly drifted towards the streets below them. Kato was still shocked at the apology he had just received. This wasn't the first time a Reid had shocked him with kindness before, however.

Despite his shortcomings, James Reid was one of the kindest men Kato had ever met. The only problem was that the man was such an ass he had to die before Kato could realize that. And really, he'd felt so stupid that he hadn't realized it sooner.

The only reason he'd met the man was because James Reid was one of those millionaires who liked to support local business. No other self-respecting rich white man would have been caught bringing his priceless vehicle to the shitty little garage where Kato had worked when he first came to America. Yet James Reid was a kind man who supported struggling businesses and helped broke immigrants who could barely speak English by giving them a fancy job working on fancy cars in their very own fancy garage. And yet Kato had the audacity to call him a dick because he had gotten mad at Kato for not doing the one thing he had hired him to do.

Mr. Reid was constantly telling Kato he was wasting his potential, mostly because Kato had no plans in pursuing secondary education. The man had even offered to pay for Kato's entire schooling if he wanted to go and he had even been accepted to a fairly prestigious engineering program in the city. He turned it down though.

The truth was, he was not Reid's son and he had no right to take the man's money. Kato had told him he did not get accepted and Mr. Reid never brought it up again. He never had the chance.

* * *

"Remember when we first met." Kato suddenly broke the silence, after minutes of furrowing his brow, "You said I was wasting my potential."

"Come on, man I thought you accepted my apology," Britt replied. Kato quickly shook his head, brow still furrowed.

"No no, it's not that it's just… your father used to say the same thing: 'Kato you are wasting your potential'".

There was that spot-on impression again. Britt couldn't help but feel for Kato, he understood how it felt to be scolded by James Reid. But there was something different about Kato's voice when he said this. There was no bitterness in it. Maybe Britt was not the only one who'd come to realize James Reid wasn't all that bad…

"You know…" Kato continued quietly, "He offered to pay for my school if I wanted to go."

Britt felt like Kato had just thrown a brick at his stomach.

_Of course he did_. Britt thought, _because he was a good man. Beneath the hard exterior there was a man who just wanted to see his son succeed._

Before Britt could even fully form the thought, Kato said it out loud.

"He was like a father to me," Kato said, looking down at his hands. "The closest thing I ever really had to family was the Reid family."

Another brick flew at Britt, but this one hit him right in the heart. He and Kato locked eyes and Britt couldn't help but smile.

"So, what you're telling me is that, in a way, we are actually Xiong-di."

Kato tilted his head in thought.

"I mean..."

"Come on just admit it. You're my little Xiong-di."

Kato shook his head, smirking.

"I'm not little." He said.

"You kinda are." Britt shot back. After a moment of laughter and hasty insults, silence returned to the pair. Britt looked over at his brother, the soft breeze blowing through his messy black hair.

"Xiong-di forever?" he said, offering a fist bump to his partner.

Kato smiled. He couldn't refuse a fist bump.

"Yea... Xiong-di forever."

Together they stared out at their city, headlights dancing through the lit streets below. Everything was calm. Almost peaceful.

"Okay but seriously how are we going to get down cause this bullet hole is really starting to hurt."

_-Fin-_


End file.
